Irish, Moss Gatherer, from Types of Nationalities (N240) issued by Kinney Bros.
Medium
Commercial color lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet (Folded): 2 11/16 × 1 7/16 in. (6.8 × 3.7 cm) Sheet (Unfolded): 6 7/8 × 1 7/16 in. (17.4 × 3.7 cm)
Classification
Prints|Ephemera
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Jefferson R. Burdick Collection, Gift of Jefferson R. Burdick
Accession Number
Burdick 218, N240.40
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of19th-century American advertising with *Irish, Moss Gatherer*, a charming yet poignant commercial color lithograph from Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company's *Types of Nationalities* (N240), issued in 1890. This petite card, measuring just 11/16 × 1 7/16 inches folded and unfolding to 7/8 × 1 7/16 inches, was designed collectible ephemera into cigarette packs. It depicts a woman embodying Irish stereotype, gathering moss—a nod to traditional livelihoods in Ireland amid waves immigration to the U.S. Chromography, the medium here revolutionized mass printing by layer...
About the Artist
Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company · 1869–2011
**Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company (1869–2011)** Founded around 1869 by Francis Sherwood Kinney in New York City, the Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company quickly rose to prominence in the burgeoning American cigarette industry. Francis, a pioneering tobacco manufacturer, experimented with hand-rolled cigarettes using blends of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, scaling to mass production by employing Europ...